Where would Kenny be today?

[wrestler36]

So backstage drama between Cena, Mickie and Kenny sent him packing in 2008. He's only 29 right now. He debuted at 19 and was pretty much the unspoken leader of the Spirit Squad. Then he was somewhat of a jobber with Victoria before his release. He was an unbelievable athlete. Kind of built like Orton, but had the athleticism of a light heavyweight. My question is, without any of the behind the scenes drama, where would he be today if he was in WWE? Would he have been a young world champion, like an Orton or a Cena? Would he be like Cody, not in the world title picture, but at least something interesting (Legacy, Dashing, Facemask, etc)? My guess is he would've had another tag run as well as a US or IC title run by now. Almost unbelievable that he would've been a 10 yr veteran at only 29 years old

 

[Jonyboyuk2]

Well, you can't really say as his solo career was a bigger let down that his days in the Spirit Squad. One thing I do know is that he would have fallen foul of WWE after some of the comments he's made in interviews.

When WWE is the biggest company in wrestling in the world, and the only place where he may get a chance again (as he was young when he was released) to make a serious living off wrestling - and he burnt that bridge. Silly man.

 

[OYDK]

Kenny never got a chance to really showcase anything. It's hard to say whether he could have squeezed some longevity into his career without first seeing him in a legitimately well booked singles program... the fact that he was 29 and had been wrestling for 10 years was a good start, but that doesn't automatically make you a star or even particularly useful to the WWE. I don't want to sound like a right hater or anything, but John Cena pretty much destroyed any chance the kid had at a career, when he banged his girlfriend... there is no way that was ending up good for Dykstra in any way.

 

[goalieman31]

Thing is backstage woman drama amongst stars happens all the time. Had kenny had more charisma and really work on his craft they wouldn't have let him go. Vince dont care if Cena is boning your gf if you start getting over it will stop. He should have used this as a stepping stone to draw big money elsewhere. He was good but theres so mant good decent wrestlers that he doesn't stand out because tons of guys have his skill set.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

It's difficult to tell really because, as has been mentioned, it's not as though we really saw a whole helluva lot of what the guy was made of. At the same time, however, it's been about 6.5 years since he left WWE and the guy's made absolutely zero impact anywhere else that I'm aware of. He's wrestled for Dragon Gate USA, he's tried out for TNA once or twice without making the roster, he's worked for something called the Wrestling Retribution Project and, the last I heard, he was working for Chikara last year but the guy's made no waves in any other promotion he's wrestled in that I'm aware of. I dunno, it's hard to really think or say anything positive about someone that's been wrestling since the early 2000s without making a mark anywhere.

 

[rbv13]

I had completely forgotten about this guy. It is hard to believe the E saw so much upside in a, at the time, seventeen year old. He had to have been a remarkable athlete. In doing some brief research of the guy I found, thanks wiki, he is now playing college football for Division III Nichols College. That is pretty cool for a twenty-nine year old.

When it comes to “what could have been” I would guess had the Cena/James incident not happened his immaturity/attitude would have eventually caught up with him. From a variety of reports I’ve read it sounds as if he was not mentally up to the tasks of handling that level of the business.

 

[Rayne]

I used to hang out at the same bars he did a couple years ago in Oxford/Charlton (MA). Did you know he was a champion in the WWE? I must have heard him use that line on women at least a dozen times.

Which, it worked. Can't fault the guy. Although the Oxford/Charlton crowd consists of the girls who aren't attractive enough to be in Worcester, which is a pretty harsh thing to say.

 

[LionheartY2J]

The spirit squad was the perfect example of why WWE was horrible with their developmental guys at the time.

They took 5 of their top prospects, and packaged them into this band of doofuses, to essentially be fodder for Dx. Kenny was the standout at the time, and has had some success outside WWE, but obviously, the biggest name to emerge from that group was Nicky, or as he's known now, Dolph Ziggler.

 

[jmt225]

Honestly if he was a true talent he'd be in TNA/ROH/PWG/Japan/Mexico/somewhere right now.

But it's obvious he lacked the passion to become an elite pro wrestler and just did it as a means to become famous, not because it was something he loved.

The guy definitely seemed like a natural at the beginning and I too thought he had the potential to become a big star in WWE, but if you don't have that passion for the business or the right kind of attitude, then you're just not going to succeed.

I will and have faulted WWE many times for missing the boat on plenty of guys, but Kenny has no one but himself to blame on this one. Again, if he was shining someplace else, I'd probably sing a different tune, but there's a reason why we haven't heard jack shit from him outside of doing shoot interviews gossiping about backstage romances. Talented guys with the passion to make a living as a pro wrestler don't just disappear off the grid like that making random appearances here and there... they make their name elsewhere, and it's obvious Kenny did not have the ability to do so.

 

[Seosa]

I always found him to be incredibly bland, to be honest.

Diving leg drop. Nothing more.

 

[shooter_mcgavin]

The spirit squad was the perfect example of why WWE was horrible with their developmental guys at the time.

They took 5 of their top prospects, and packaged them into this band of doofuses, to essentially be fodder for Dx. Kenny was the standout at the time, and has had some success outside WWE, but obviously, the biggest name to emerge from that group was Nicky, or as he's known now, Dolph Ziggler.

I actually liked their gimmick and they were capable of having good matches. Though I think it went downhill for them after Vengeance when they had a 2 on 5 match vs. DX in a complete burial. I mean I know their gimmick were male cheerleaders but I have seen Simpsons nerd spoofs in gangs looking tougher than the Spirit Squad.

 

[Dagger Dias]

I was a big fan of Kenny. He was the only member of the Spirit Squad that I liked and I expected him to get further up the card than he did once he became the only member to remain on the main roster once the group split up. Jobbing him out to Chuck Palumbo for what seemed like an eternity did him no favors, but had he stuck around I could see him at the very least having become Intercontinental or US Champion. Once Dolph Ziggler made it to the main roster then they might have feuded since they were both in the Spirit Squad. Maybe a tag team title reign with Dolph first then they'd feud after they split. That's about it though and with me having been a Kenny Dykstra mark, even I can admit he was never going to make it to a World Championship. It sucks that he has failed to make an impact anywhere else and I was genuinely shocked that he did not succeed in his attempt at joining TNA. Oh well. Hope things turn around for him someday.

 

[Vanilla Midget]

He had some exciting moves in the ring. That diving leg drop was top shelf, but could he have maintained that move into the later stages of his career? Unlikely. His hip would take an absolute beating over the years and he would have spent a career getting over a move that he would be unable to perform eventually. Sure he's only 29 now, but what happens 10 years from now or later?

He had a good look, decent mic skills, and an exciting move set. He was booked pretty poorly after the Spirit Squad. He was pretty whiny, which was more annoying than anything. Also that last name, Dyskstra? Yikes that's lame. Kenny Smith would have sounded more imposing. This was also the cusp of the time when WWE still allowed some talent to compete under their real names. Kenny Doane would have been a better name, anything other than Dykstra.

But a rose by any other name. He was good, not great. If he was a truly amazing specimen they likely would have held onto in, jobbing him out for a few years to punish him for the controversy. Although the mid-noughties were known for their regular cuts.

 

[Mudlup50]

Kinda odd when you think back to the DX reunion and the Spirit Squad were all over our TV's. Yet now basically they all our gone, you figure Dolph Ziggler never acknowledges being Nikky so they're all gone. But Kenny was primed from the start to be the break out star, whether that was going to be in 2006 or 2010. One of his final WWE matches was with Triple H. Back in 2006 he had a match with John Cena, I wanna say it was a main event too. They seriously thought this guy was going to be a star, but then Trips and HBK and...yea we all know how that went.

I can almost promise he would have been US champ by now had he stayed, probably a Cody Rhodes level. I could actually see them forming a team over the years being as that's all they want Cody to do. Regardless, Kenny could have been a star with a different gimmick...well maybe not a star but more memorable then he is now

 

[FromGlasgow]

I suppose we will never know for sure, He was never around in a singles career that long to be able to tell and I never heard of him doing anything outside of the WWE so in a way he was kind of forgetable, One thing about the WWE is I do think a lot of the time they do whats best for business and do mend fences with people that have done worse so I guess they seen his fence as something not worth mending. If he had that much potential it wouldn't have surprised me if they exploited the situation with Cena and had the 2 of them start a feud.

 

[mral82]

In my opinion Kenny wasn't nothing Special as he woulda been a Jobber for Life. His only I guess great thing was him being Athletic and maybe that Top Rope Leg Drop other than that nothing at all. So he'd either be Just a Jobbing to others or already gone. Plus the whole Mickie/Kenny/John Thing might be just a Rumour made up by him cause all I saw was the On Screen thing between John and Mickie. Kenny has bcame a Bitter EX whom Screwed Himself.

 

[LionheartY2J]

"Yet now basically they all our gone, you figure Dolph Ziggler never acknowledges being Nikky so they're all gone."

Yeah, that's the norm. They'll never acknowledge Ryback being Skip Sheffield, Bray Wyatt being McGillicutty or whatever, or Kane being Issac Yankem, fake Diesal, or a handful of other fails, Kama/The Godfather being Papa Shango, or other retreadings that I can't think of.

And really, it makes sense. For all practical purposes, these are characters, and it's not like Han Solo ever discusses being Indian Jones in another life.

 

[LionheartY2J]

To add to the above post, it has happened in the past when a superstar will go back to an older gimmick for one reason or another, IE Owen Hart/Blue Blazer, Booker T/G.I. Bro. And of course, there's Dustin Runnels who's used the Goldust character in Kayfabe promos on how Vince held him, being Dustin Runnels back; in fact, the entire "Seven" gimmick (anyone under the age of 30 might have to google that one,) was Dustin's way of pissing on this fact.

 

[stingray11214]

I doubt Kenny Dykstra will be doing a lot of wrestling. He is in college and is playing linebacker for the Nicholls College (NCAA Division III) football team. Now, I know that he is not going to the NFL. But, he will probably stay in the Indies for a few bucks and make a career doing something non-wrestling related.

 

[Mudlup50]

"Yet now basically they all our gone, you figure Dolph Ziggler never acknowledges being Nikky so they're all gone."

Yeah, that's the norm. They'll never acknowledge Ryback being Skip Sheffield

He actually did though didn't he? Remember back in I guess January when the victors of the Survivor Series tag match returned, Ryback got a decent promo talking about much he loved wrestling and how hard he's worked to be where he is. Mentioning his Tough Enough time and NXT time. Even showing footage from both times

It sticks out to me because I was sure they were going with plan Ryback, which just goes to show how silly we can be as wrestling fans. 5 months after that promo and what has Ryback done? I was hoping for some Wrestlemania moment yet losing in the pre show....

Anyway, yea you normally don't see it but it does happen sometimes. Dolph could use it mentioning how he's always been a show off or how he's paid his dues.

Link to Ryback's promo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLidJ12VMwU